Sunday, May 2, 2010

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CONTEST!

SEVEN KITCHENS PRESS announces the third annual Robin Becker Chapbook Prize for an original, unpublished poetry manuscript in English by a Lesbian, Gay. Bisexual, Transgendered or Queer writer.

* Prize: Fifty author copies. * Submission deadline: Postmarked between March 1 and May 15 of each year. * Eligibility: Open to all L/G/B/T/Q poets writing in English (no translations, please). * Please note: Two manuscripts will be selected as co-winners of the 2010 Robin Becker Chapbook Prize: one by a writer with no previous book or chapbook, and the other by a writer with previous book or chapbook publication. * Please read the guidelines carefully; the complete guidelines are posted on the Seven Kitchens site and we are not responsible for other versions of the guidelines that may be posted, in whole or in part, elsewhere.

COMPLETE GUIDELINES:

* Anyone who identifies as L/G/B/T/Q is eligible to submit to the Robin Becker Chapbook Prize. * The manuscript itself need not address L/G/B/T/Q themes, though such work is welcome. * The final judge for this year's series is Eloise Klein Healy.

* Include two cover pages: one with the manuscript title, author name, address, e-mail and phone number; the second cover page should have the manuscript title only. * Include a table of contents page, if appropriate. * The collection may contain a series of poems or one single chapbook-length poem. * Include, if applicable, an acknowledgments page for work previously published. * Please include, on a separate page, a brief (100-150 words) biographical note, including a statement of any previous or pending book or chapbook publication.

The author's name must not appear in the manuscript.

* Collaborative works are accepted. Should a winning manuscript be collaboratively written, the author copies will be shared equally. * All manuscripts will be blind judged, meaning all identifying material will be separated from the manuscripts as they are logged in. * Manuscript titles and their log numbers will be posted on the web site [http:// sevenkitchens dot blogspot dot com] as they are received.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us promptly if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

* Submissions must be posted between March 1 and May 15, 2010. * The winning manuscripts will be announced on or before October 15, 2010. * Manuscript finalists will also be announced, and may be eligible for publication.

Manuscripts will not be returned. E-mailed submission is preferred, but you may send via regular mail.

* If you are sending by mail, do not staple or bind your manuscript; please use a binder clip and mail flat in an 8.5 x 11 envelope. * Please do not use expedited delivery services; your postmark date is sufficient to ensure your entry qualification, and we will allow 7-10 days for receipt of all mailed entries. Please use First Class Mail and consider spending the money you've saved on a chapbook from an independent press! * If you are sending by e-mail, please send one document in Microsoft Word format (.doc, .docx or .rtf files are ideal); you must include the words “Robin Becker Chapbook” in the subject line of your e-mail. * Include a $12 reading fee with each manuscript you submit (multiple submissions are welcome). Checks should be made payable to Ron Mohring, NOT to Seven Kitchens. Online payment may be made via PayPal to sevenkitchens at yahoo dot com. * Each entrant will receive one copy of either winning chapbook, to be published during the winter of 2010-11. Please let us know if you change your e-mail or mailing address! * Each co-winner will receive fifty copies of her or his chapbook. Additionally, the publisher will distribute ten review copies and will solicit online reviews of each chapbook.

Send your manuscript:~by e-mail, as a Microsoft Word attachment, to: sevenkitchens at yahoo dot com; or~by mail to Ron Mohring, Publisher; PO Box 668; Lewisburg PA 17837.ABOUT THE SERIES: Initiated in 2008, this chapbook series honors Robin Becker, whose continuing accomplishments as a poet, professor, and mentor of lesbian and gay writers deserve wider acclaim. Becker serves as poetry editor for the Women's Review of Books and is a professor of English and Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of six collections of poems, including Giacometti's Dog (1990), All-American Girl (1996), The Horse Fair (2000), and Domain of Perfect Affection (2006), all from the University of Pittsburgh Press, and of the chapbook Venetian Blue (Frick Art & Historical Center, 2002).

Titles in this series include Lost Lands by Judith Barrington, Postcards from P-town by Steven Riel, (2008), Inland Sea by Erin Bertram, and Scavenge by RJ Gibson. All titles are kept in print and are available for $7 each; please add $1 for shipping.

ABOUT THE JUDGE: Eloise Klein Healy is the author of six books of poetry, including Ordinary Wisdom, Artemis in Echo Park, Passing, and The Islands Project: Poems for Sappho. Healy's work has been widely anthologized in collections including The World In Us: Lesbian and Gay Poetry of the Next Wave and Intimate Nature: The Bond Between Women and Animals. Her imprint with Red Hen Press, Arktoi Books, established in 2006, specializes in publishing the work of lesbian authors.

The Weary World Rejoices

All Screwed Up

Blind Date With Cavafy

About Me

Steve Fellner's second book of poems The Weary World Rejoices was published last year. His first book of poems Blind Date with Cavafy won the Thom Gunn Gay Male Poetry Award.
His memoir, All Screwed Up, focuses on his relationship with his ex-trampoline champion mother.